As the November elections rapidly approach, the intensity of the presidential campaign will now increase. How do we, as Catholic Christians, decide who we should support?
            Our primary concern as Catholic Christians is to honor, respect and protect the dignity of all human life. Life is God’s sacred gift to us because each of us has been made in God’s own image and likeness and so each person is a revelation of God for us. To honor, respect and protect the dignity of all human life, we must reject abortion on demand. While we respect the fact that women can sometimes find themselves in situations in which they think that there is no good option other than abortion, we must help all women recognize that there are real alternatives to abortion. But if we are to preserve the lives of unborn children, our society must do more to ensure that every child brought to life receives what is necessary for that child to have a healthy, full and productive life. Our respect for life does not end in infancy. In respect for all human life, our Church calls us to end capital punishment. There is new urgency in bringing capital punishment to an end now that we have well-documented cases of innocent persons having been sentenced to death. Our respect for life also calls us to have a profound concern for all those whose dignity is at risk, or, in fact compromised, by the conditions in which they live – the poor, the undocumented immigrant, and all those on the margins of our society. Our Church is ‘pro-life’ in its recognition of the dignity of all of our brothers and sisters in God and in its insistence that no person be excluded from the care and concern of our society.
            As we prepare to vote this November, we have to consider which candidates will do more to honor, respect and protect the dignity of all human lives -the unborn, children, the poor, the undocumented immigrant, those condemned to die, and those on the margins of society. We should support those candidates who have demonstrated the real breadth of their concern for all of our brothers and sisters in God.